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Poster #189 - Early Sexual Debut Timing has Lingering Effects Into the Thirties

Thu, March 21, 4:00 to 5:15pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

The associations between sexual debut timing and adolescent adjustment are well-established (e.g., early initiation predicts heightened subsequent sexual risk-taking, thus increasing potential for off-time pregnancies and contracting STIs). Thus, delaying sexual initiation is a central objective of sexuality education curricula for teens. Recently, scholars have sought to determine whether early debut has consequences for health and adjustment into adulthood. The few inquiries to date have primarily relied upon the Add Health dataset, yet these have revealed evidence of ongoing sexual and relational consequences (e.g., relationship dissatisfaction), and physical and mental health impacts (e.g., depression, marijuana use disorder) through the mid to late twenties. Some studies indicate that the impacts of early debut dissipate after adolescence, while others reveal that the intermediate consequences of sexual behaviors mediate associations between debut timing and outcomes. The present study pursued lingering questions about how early debut timing predicts young adults’ adjustment. It was anticipated that early initiation would predict high depression, substance use, annual numbers of sexual partners, numbers of children, and elevated risk of teen pregnancy, cohabitation and marriage by the early 30s. The current inquiry also explored whether early debut predicted heightened criminality, low educational attainment, and high financial difficulties (i.e., outcomes neglected in previous investigations).
Data were drawn from several waves of the CNLSY-79 (N = 693; 47.2% women, 23.4% Hispanic, 38.7% Black, 38% European American). Participants provided their age in years at sexual debut after reporting initiation at one or more survey waves between 1996-2014 (i.e., owing to missing data on this variable, four young adults who reporting being uninitiated at the 2014 wave were omitted from analyses).
Table 1 provides bivariate correlations between debut age and control variables (i.e., sex, ethnicity, the youth’s mother’s age at first birth [as a proxy for familial SES]; when possible, analyses controlled for prior levels of the dependent variable and other relevant demographics in mid-adolescence). Results were consistent with the literature. Analyses were tested in regression, with debut age entered on the first step and controls added on the second (see Table 2). In keeping with prior studies, early debut was linked to experiencing teen parenthood, marriage, cohabitation, and to bearing high numbers of children. Age at initiation was unassociated with alcohol use and criminality, indicating dissipating effects over time. Comparatively later debut was associated with reporting fewer partners in the last year, less tobacco use, high achievement, and few financial struggles (though mitigated by prior educational attainment). In sum, the current investigation indicates that early initiation continues to have impacts on relationship outcomes and tobacco use in the early thirties. While it is encouraging that early initiation had no long-term detrimental effects for alcohol use, depression, and criminality, it is worrisome that early debut appears to be a mechanism of persistent intergenerational educational and economic inequality. The poster will include additional control variables and formal tests of mediation, in addition to discussing the implications for intervention.

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